Intel says the future is in Mash Making

This morning at IDF, Intel announced that it had launched a technology preview of the Intel Mash Maker – a project that Intel believes has the potential to revolutionalise the way we use the Internet.

Mashups are websites that give users the ability to combine and unify information from a collection of separate websites. They’re transforming the way we use the Internet, but they’re currently built by computing experts.

What Intel wants to do is to provide a solution that allows users to create community mashups as part of the normal browsing experience – this is something that Robert Ennals, the project lead for Intel Mash Maker, says he’s incredibly excited about.

As you browse the web, the Mash Maker toolbar suggests mashups that it can apply to the current page in order to improve your browsing experience. Intel used the example of plotting all items on a map, or displaying the available leg room in a list of flights.

The wisdom behind the technology though is the fact that if you teach Mash Maker a new mashup, the community would benefit as that mashup would then be suggested to other users.

Additionally, the tool relies on the community teaching it about the structure and semantics of web pages by using the built-in structure editor.

I can certainly see the benefits of combining information, but I still have my concerns about the technology, especially with its potential security risks. Do you think that something like this could transform the way we use the Internet forever? What are your concerns? Let us know in the forums.